Mr. Vegas Not Rejoicing Over Bounty Killer’s Low First Week Sales For ‘Time Bomb’ EP
From their lyrical feuds to their disparaging remarks about each other online, it’s no secret that Mr. Vegas and Bounty Killer have a contentious relationship. Though Mr. Vegas is known to poke the bear, he draws the line when it comes to supporting his peers’ artistry, and, by extension, the dancehall music industry.
Bounty’s latest body of work is the collaborative Time Bomb EP with Cham, curated by production genius Dave Kelly. Though the mere concept of the project is intriguing enough as it packs three of the greatest Dancehall contributors of all time, the EP moved less than 100 units in combined sales and streams during its first week of release, US sales tracker Luminate told DancehallMag.
In an Instagram Live on Wednesday, Vegas explained why the figure was no laughing matter, throwing blows at those who were quick to promote their beef instead of the EP.
“Unno waan tell me seh unno siddung and watch the album did 100 raw sales fi the first week, 100?” he asked. “And unno deh pon internet and unno mek so much money off Bounty Killer content dem… If unno waan buss unno channel, unno write seh, ‘Killer a unno general’…and unno waan tell me seh so much a unno weh deh pon YouTube and deh pon the internet, unno really allow that fi happen?”
He continued, “Memba seh me cya rejoice bout that because mi a artist and mi a put out music too and it nuh good fi dancehall neither… This just goes to show that unno a nuh real fans of the music.”
Before going Live, the We Nuh Want Nuh Friend singjay shared a screenshot of him buying Time Bomb on iTunes.
“Baby Cham a good youth,” he justified. “Me rate Dave Kelly and mi rate Bounty Killer as a great deejay – one of the greatest deejay, (so this is) a collector’s item fi me. Even fi just listen to it and hear which part Dave really deh wid him sound dem, mi haffi buy it.”
He said he also contributed to the EP’s sales by encouraging his friends to buy it.
“Me mek five album sell and mi nah seh that because mi a look nuh clout or nuh friend cause unno know mi go hard inna the paint ‘gainst Killer, cause mi coulda come out yah come create antics and seh the man sell a 100 download, but a nuh that mi deh pon because it nuh good fi the music… Bounty Killer a one of the cornerstones fi dancehall, so, Bounty Killer nuffi release a project and that happen.”
The promotion around Time Bomb included a close-up documentary of the creative process and the brotherhood between Bounty and Cham.
There’s also been placement on Bounty not releasing an album in 20 years, the last being the Grammy-nominated Ghetto Dictionary: The Mystery, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
His most commercial album is the 1996 My Xperience project, which moved 154,000 units in the US and held the top position on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart for 16 weeks. Released in his TVT Records era, the set hit No. 145 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and bore The Fugees-featured Hip Hopera, which peaked at No. 14 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.
His second highest-selling album is Next Millennium (1998), which has sold 78,000 units in the US. The project stayed at No. 1 for six weeks on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, and featured the Mobb Deep and Big Boys Deadly Zone collab, which peaked at number eight on the Hot Rap Songs chart. The song formed part of the soundtrack for the action movie Blade.
Nah No Mercy – The Warlord Scrolls, released in 2006 via VP Records, has sold 46,000 units, according to Luminate.